The only two settlements in the area between Lago Maggiore and the Swiss border where Walsers still live and where their language (Titsch – Deutsch) is still spoken, are Formazza and Macugnaga. There are however a few other tiny hamlets, clinging to remote hillsides, where time has stood still ever since they were abandoned during the last century. Indeed, most of these hamlets and villages have remained architecturally unchanged for hundreds of years.

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Salecchio

 

Amongst these minor, now abandoned settlements, pride of place goes to Salecchio, hidden away out of site from the valley bottom, on a sunny ledge overlooking high peaks on the far side of the valley.

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This village can either be reached from below, hiking up from the road to Formazza, or more picturesquely by hiking down from the Walser hamlet of Antillone, near to the exit from the Val Formazza tunnel. The track contours through a string of Walser settlements: Antillone, Vovo, Casa Francoil and Salecchio, the latter divided into upper (1509 metres)and lower (1322 metres) Salecchio.

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Though bucolic, life was extremely tough and after reaching 115 inhabitants in 1770, the population fell to 79 in 1861 never again to rise above 100; emigration was a constant battle, especially during the post-war boom years in Italy when factories were crying out for labour. The population dwindled away to nothing in 1966 when the last resident died.

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Things might have been different had the local authorities heeded the residents’ call for a tunnel to break through an outcrop of rock, so that a road could be built up from the valley bottom. A tunnel was eventually built but it came too late.

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As well as the houses (25) most of which are perfectly preserved, and the stables (50) you can visit the old water-powered saw mill, the oven, the old school and the magnificent churcha all testament to the quality of the construction techniques and the care taken by the owners of these dwellings – often the descendants of the last inhabitants – to keep them in perfect condition.  Despite the stunning scenery, there is still something poignant about this strangely beautiful place.

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Agaro

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The road to Agaro follows the route from Baceno up towards Alpe Devero before veering off at a signposted junction to Agaro and Ausone (Opso in Walser), the latter, a very pretty Walser sister hamlet, also abandoned, where you have to leave your car.  Locals tell us that you can safely ignore signs prohibiting access to the village by car. 

 

Foot-tunnel

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Continue on foot beyond Ausone for a kilometre until you reach the entrance to the two kilometre tunnel where you proceed on foot. Remember to press the button to turn on the light at the beginning of the tunnel.

After 30 minutes a timer turns off the lights and if you are still in the tunnel, you will be left in the dark! You’ll need cold weather clothing and an emergency torch.

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So inaccessible that it can only be reached through a 2 kilometres foot-tunnel under the mountain, Agaro was once a walser village. At 1561 metres above sea level, it was the highest, most inaccessible village in Ossola. 

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Between 1936 and 1940, the entire population of Agaro, some 104 people, were forced to abandon the village their ancestors had lived in for almost seven centuries when it was submerged beneath a lake. Added poignancy derives from the fact that the original inhabitants of Agaro (Agher) were German speaking Walsers who for centuries had succeeded in eking out a living against the odds in this extremely harsh environment. 

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Their village is now a forlorn underwater spectacle, occasionally visited by divers who post their adventures on Youtube. When the water level is particularly low you can sometimes glimpse the ghostly skeletons of roof joists. 

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Parking

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There is plenty of free parking at Ausone.

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